Klang 2 Review (Switch eShop)

There isn’t exactly an abundance of rhythm games available on the Switch (certainly not recently), so it goes without saying that Klang 2 sticks out a bit from the pack simply by catering to this oft-overlooked genre. We’re not sure why Tinimations decided to bring Klang 2 over to the Switch before its predecessor, but from what we’ve seen this entry is the stronger of the two. Klang 2 isn’t perfect and it’s rather short, but it successfully offers up an enjoyable rhythm action experience that genre fans will want to know about.

Klang 2 technically has a story, although it’s hardly anything that feels particularly worth experiencing. From what we can tell you’re playing in the role of an amnesiac “rave warrior” named Sonus, who’s being haunted by ghosts that are somehow related to his mystical tuning fork-like Tuneblade. A mysterious magical eye being named “A-Eye” thus decides to help him be rid of the ghosts forever, but only if he pledges his undying allegiance to the eye after he’s done.

Or something like that; it’s a really weirdly told story.

All narrative strangeness aside, the rhythm action gameplay at the centre of Klang 2 hits all the right beats. There are only two factors you have to worry about—your left stick and the ‘Y’ button—and you get through levels by pointing the stick at symbols in time with the music and tapping ‘Y’ when necessary. Simple enough, but things are complicated a little more by the fact that all the rhythmic gameplay is being layered over a battle. Each tap corresponds to Sonus dashing around and swiping at foes with his Tuneblade, and this mixes up the gameplay because you have to constantly be aware of both Sonus’ position and the position of the next symbol.

It’s quite often that his dash will force you to have to change the L-stick input at the last second, and this can make for some thrilling sequences. The downside to this is that Sonus is as brightly neon colored as everything else on screen, so it’s quite easy to lose sight of him in the sensory overload of a song’s climax, which can throw you off and potentially cost you the song if you make enough mistakes. Moments like this happen frequently enough that they do tend to disrupt the flow of the gameplay, but there’s also nothing quite like when you finally find yourself in that zen-like state where you’re smashing through dozens of beats in a row with perfect accuracy. Thus, we’d say the gameplay is satisfying, but Klang 2 could’ve made its more intense moments a little more readable.

Naturally, a rhythm game is nothing without a killer soundtrack, and Klang 2 fortunately doesn’t disappoint in this regard. This soundtrack is absolutely packed with a litany of pulse-pounding, hard-hitting house and techno tracks that perfectly match the ridiculously colorful fantasy environments. It must be said that the music tracks tend to blur together after a bit, but there’s enough variety here that it feels worthwhile.

Though Klang 2 has its issues, we feel that it still offers up a satisfying and unique enough take on the rhythm genre to at least be worth your consideration. This isn’t necessarily a title that we’d recommend to anyone looking to get their feet wet with rhythm games, but fans will likely find enough to love here that it’s at least worth the relatively low price of admission.